A new Overlord
by Halloween13666
Summary: This is my first time publishing anything here, so I might screw some things up before I get the hang of it. It has been over two hundreds years since the fall of the last Overlord. Stranded on a far away land, Gnarl and the last minions are struggling to stay alive and are still searching for a new master... A search finally coming to an end. Because Evil always finds a way.
1. Chapter 1

The world needs balance between Light and Darkness.  
When the forces of Darkness, the Overlord and his baleful army of minions, rise, heroes of Light soon come to vanquish and, more often than not, destroy him. However, when they succeed, there isn't enough Darkness to fight anymore, and the forces of Light start to corrupt themselves, unable to fill the vacuum that they caused... Until a new Overlord rise and cleanse that corruption.  
But the Overlord is no more. The drastic measures taken to ensure his fall once and for all dealt a fatal blow to the forces of Darkness. Some cults and madmen did try to get the favors of the forces of Darkness by creating or summoning a new Overlord, but none of them succeeded...  
And now, far over two centuries after the death of their Overlord and the destruction of his tower in the Netherworld, only a few of his loyal minions remains as the last part of what might soon only be remembered as a legend, still awaiting an Overlord that didn't came...  
...Yet.

He came back to consciousness, his whole body hurting as if a stampede passed on him. He was confused. Where was he? Why was he so weak and hurt? He oppened his eyes, but his vision wasn't clear, his arm being nothing more than a dark blurr in an infinite white. He barely moved before losing consciousness once again, while one last thought passed through his mind.

 _-"It's... Cold...  
So... Cold..."_

Gnarl examined the iced horizon, keeping an eye on the minions deployed in fan formation a little further, hoping to see some life, be it living or lost in these montains. Any creature made of flesh would do, given the limited rations that they still had. But the horizon stayed empty, without a single yeti, or even a dahu in sight. Out of hope, Gnarl was about to give order to return to the cave... When Gloob indicated that he found something. It was burried under a fine layer of snow, that the minions finished to remove when Gnarl got there. A human... The movement of his ribs, almost imperceptible, reveal that he is still alive but too weak to defend himself.

-"He isn't that thick, but it still is better than nothing. It is time to go."

Despite the snow, getting back to the cave barely took them twenty minutes. Once inside, Gnarl sat near the fire, making sure that Giblet really did took care of it. They don't have much wood left, which means that they will have to go soon... They still had two or three days, at most. With this though, Gnarl couldn't help but contemplate what was left of the minions by his side... Giblet and Mortis of course, as well as Gloob, Mouldy, Gubbin, Fleas, Grubby, Belch, Moloch, Chuckles, Worm... And also Quaver, saddly. All within this cave, so far away from the lands that they knew. His gaze then went toward the last object that they still had, the Tower Hea... It was reacting to something! Gnarl quickly looked through the cave to find what, before his eyes fell on the humain. With a smile, Gnarl ordered the minions to put him closer to the fire. Yes, the silver marking, the blue skin... How did he missed it?

He was starting to wonder again. Was he dead? Was it already over? He didn't feel the cold anymore, but he still was too weak to do anything. His senses started to come back to him. He was wet, soaked even. He could feel his clothes and his hair clinging to his skin. Then he heard something... Voices? They seemed distant, he couldn't understand any of it. Was he dreaming? And what was that smell? It went with the crackling noise that he could now hear. It made him think of something warm. He tried to open his eyes. He still couldn't see clearly, but he finally recognise what was glowing before him, making the noise : a fire. His eyes closed again, still too weak to wake up, but he could feel his body slowly getting warmer...  
He nearly could feel some of his strengh coming back to him...

Gnarl could sware that the human changed in the last few minutes. He wasn't sure anymore that it was a human. His hair seemed longer, he had pointy hears and his fingers ended in claws... Like the blue and silver skin, these traits weren't too unusual for an Overlord... But all of them at once still was odd. And the tail definitly was unusual. It looked like a longer version of the greens' one, but the tip was that of the reds', and its color scheme reminded him of the ones that the blues sported...  
He interrupted his thoughts when the eyelids of the Overlord twitched, then oppened slightly, letting him see a faint line made of an orange glow, before shutting down again some seconds later. Gnarl ordered a minion to fetch a piece of meat. They were excited, Giblet already polishing the last pieces of the old armor that he kept during all this time. When Moloch gave him the meat, Gnarl put it to cook over the fire. This should help awaking their new Overlord.

While it took some more time than Gnarl expected, the Overlord finally did wake up, and he was quick to sntach the meal placed before him, using his fang-like teeth to tear each piece apart before swallowing them, barely chewing. It looked like he hadn't eaten in days. While he finished eating, he took conciousness of his surroundings. He was in a cave, not far from a campfire, with strange creatures looking at him. They were a dozen at most, and all looked quite energized. They all were brown, except a blue one in a grimm reaper costume. One was wearing a digger helmet, another, wearing some blacksmith tools, was rassembling some pieces of metal while gnawing on a chunk of wood, there was a dancing one covered in... Burn marks? Tatoos?...

-"Giblet! Don't chew THAT!"

He turned to face the one that talked. He seemed older, and was wearing some kind of cloak, with a glowing stone hanging from a stick over his head.

-"Ah, master, glad to see you awake. I am Gnarl, The Minion Master." Gnarl said while gesturing over to show the other minions. "And you are our new Overlord! We have seen better times, and now that we found you, we can finally start to rebuild our forces. But you should rest for now, the nights aren't safe in these mountains."

While he was a little confused, the Overlord didn't seek more answers. For now, he was in a warm place with these creatures that seemed obedient to him. He used a good portion of the night to rest, thinking about what might have happenned to him before today, but he couldn't remember anything before the pain and the cold. In the early morning, the minions helped him change clothes, putting the armor on him. It was too big an heavy, obviously made for someone more muscular than him, and it wasn't made with his tail in mind. He didn't even had to ask before Gnarl assured him that the next ones would. That was when he took notice of the huge glowing orb in the back of the cave. Gnarl told him that it was the Tower Heart, the most powerfull of the artefact that was in his possession. The only one too. He was a little impressed that Gnarl could read him so well that he didn't need to speak once since he woke up.  
When the hailstorm stopped some time before the sunrise, they were ready to leave. It took days to get down from the mountains, Gnarl guiding them toward the last known location of the brown hive. Things got easier once they were in the forest, their biggest worry being to stay far enough from the roads to not gather attention. Even so long after the fall of the Empire, people still were aggressive to magic creatures. And with the Tower Heart looking like a giant jewel, avoiding thieves was obviously required.  
It was Gnarl turn to be impressed : despite clearly strugling to walk with the armor at first, the Overlord didn't ask to remove it, even travelling whole days straight without any complains. The constant exercises caused his muscles to grow, letting him fill up his armor far better than barely two weeks ago, even if it was still too big for him. He also needed to sleep less and less. Gnarl worried that he might be pushing himself too much, but the Overlord kept getting in better shape with each passing days.  
During the third week, the forest became far less dense and far more rocky, until it was remplaced by a rocky wasteland, the road leading to the bottom of a wide canyon.

-"We lost the brown hive during a landslide further this way. We should be there tomorow, maybe even this evening."

They arrived the next morning, looking all over for clues as to were the hive went.


	2. Chapter 2

While arriving at their destination, their path was slowed by a bunch of rocks and boulders that were blocking the road...  
 **"Well, either this place wasn't cleaned up since our last passage, or it is surprisingly prone to landslides."** They didn't waited for Gnarl to finish his comment before starting their ascension, but they found something else when they climbed on top of that pile of rocks : several damaged chariot and what appeared to be some piece of armor embedded in what might have been its owner. While his minions were either bringing the Tower Heart or digging to find clues about where the brown hive was, the Overlord kneeled near one of the corpses and touched the blood that came from it. It had dried already, but it still was somewhat sticky. They were killed during the last evening at most, maybe even sooner. Readying his axe, he quickly checked his surroundings, noticing the emptiness of the chariots. However, Gnarl also found something of interest. A large boulder, not too far from the rest, halfway stuck in the wall. It has some space on its right and, upon closer inspection, it seems that it's enough to hold most of the boulder. Gnarl came closer, and it didn't take much time before he found what he though would be there.

 **"Over here, sire!"**

The Overlord was quick to arrive, axe at the ready and some minions beside him. Gnarl showed him the traces left in the dirt, right before the boulder. On his order, the minions began to push it aside, revealing the entrance to a maze of tunnels.

After some bits of exploration, they found the two things they were looking for : the brown hive, which was in a mostly underground would-be village, and a one entrance room big enough to house the Tower Heart without needing too much minions to guard it. Now relieved from the task of protecting it while fighting, and also from Quaver's presence, they were studying the village from a ledge before a gust of iced wind passed by. It was composed of a little dozen of houses, maybe more, of a farm to keep some animals and supplies, and a place to hold some shiny stuff that they evidently stole, including the hive.

 **"Ah! The littles maggots! How could they dare?"** Said Gnarl, angrily looking at the cages holding the rest of the browns. He then turned around the speak to the Overlord, only to see that he wasn't there anymore...

He wasn't going to wait much longer. Not in the mood for that. All thanks to them. He was already sliding on the rocky surface, probably alerting them of his presence, when he noticed that his minions weren't by his side. He barely got the time to call them before hitting the ground, axe in hand.

It has been a nice day in the village : yesterday's attack went smoothly, with no casualities outside of a few minor wounds and a good booty in both valuables and supplies, followed by a feast to celebrate their best catch so far. Now, they just had to get the road ready for another surprise assault, but that could wait a day longer... It was then that a strange yet very familiar sound echoed to the villagers. Something sliding on the stone surfaces of the cave, then a short silence before that something hit the ground with a metallic sound, gathering the whole attention of the villagers along the way. That something was some kind of knight, wearing a dark and spiky armor, a demon's tail, and an axe in his right hand, which was quickly joined by a bunch of those gremlins that they captured a little more than two month ago. Before anyone could react, the knight openned his glowing orange eyes, pointed in their direction, and chaos ensued as the creatures charged in, screaming like madmans...

He landed farther than he wanted, but he didn't linger on this thought, already extending his arm and silently giving his minions the following order : _"Get to the hive, free the minions, and destroy everything that gets in your way!"  
_ And so they did, gleefully charging and maiming their opponents, with a special mention to Giblet, who litterally rammed himself through anything still on his way, not even slowing down as he went through several cages, before stopping to try and pick up the hive, before more minions joined him. But the Overlord hadn't remained iddle during all of this. He too joined the fight, using the armored gauntlet on his left arm to block a fork before answering with his axe by cleaving open a hole in the ribcage of his foe, who fell with it. Getting his axe back out, he then heard the battlecry of another beside him, and swiftly spun around, stabbing his left elbow in his attacker's belly, wich made a gargling noise before falling too while the Overlord took an instant to gaze on the now bloddied spike that his armor features on said elbow, then went back in the fight.

Even thought they gave it all they got, a bunch of frightened and unorganised villagers weren't a match for the Overlord and a dozen of his minions, making the fight pretty one-sided. When she understood that, a young women did what she thought would be best : gathering all of her courage, she threw herlself from the safety of the house to right between the Overlord and his soon-to-be newest victim... **"STOP!..."** The axe was still closing in on her face, but stopped right before it could hit her. **"Please, I don't know what you want, but just take it... Take it and leave us alone... No more killing... Please..."** She could barely hold her tears, praying to any god listenning that her plea would be heard... And then, the minions left the fight, getting back to their master with some valuables, supplies, gears and some glowing orbs that they found on the fallen and, most importantly : the Brown hive.

The Overlord took a second to think about it, before calling back his minions and lowering his axe. While he hadn't meant to stop it so close to her face, he hadn't shown it. Maybe even Gnarl wouldn't be able to tell. But these people could be of some use after all... **"I will access to your demand... But,** **you** **will come with me and guide us in these tunnels until I find a place that is to my liking."** His voice wasn't as low as Gnarl had thought, but it was raspy, treatening, and had some sort of faint echo to it.

They departed soon after, Gnarl finally joining them, then they got back to retrieve the Tower Heart and its guards. The sole female of the group eyed the Tower Heart during an instant, but quickly stopped, hopping they hadn't noticed. That orb was beautifull, but it reminded her of a rose, and the thorns protecting that beauty were even deadlier than anything she encountered. They followed her, letting her lead them in the labyrinth of tunnels during hours, until they finally stopped on the surface, the Overlord seemingly satisfied with the place. While the minions were constantly making noises, and even sang along the way, the Overlord hadn't speaked a single words since they left her village. While some minions went back underground, she ventured out, trying to understand why they stopped here. They were on the surface, on a flat and barren plain, far from the cliff that separated it from the forest below. She couldn't find anything of interrest here. She got back to what started to look like a camp under the evening sun, wich made the glowing eyes of all the creatures in it stand out even more.

Gnarl was relieved to see that the Overlord hadn't any real injury, and the few that he had were healing faster than normal, but that wasn't the sole reason for his good mood. They retrieved the brown hive. They had even more minions by their side. They made a carnage back in the village, teaching them how to respect the Overlord and his minions. But mostly, they were starting the construction of a new Tower.


	3. Chapter 3

The minions had started to work a little before dawn. After having explored the few caves right below the surface and placed the Tower Heart, they started the hard part of their work : digging and building what would soon become the Foundation and the Barracks of the new Tower. Gnarl was with the Overlord in his tent, putting finishing touches on the plans of the Tower. The construction would take a long time with them having barely over twenty minions. The Overlord's stomach growled after a while, a frown forming on his face. They didn't have much food left. He shot a last glance at the plans, checking for any flaws he could find, without success. Perfect. He stood up and left the tent, satisfied in how the plans were turning out. Now, he just needed to address other issues. Their food supply was the most urgent one. What they had wouldn't last long. He walked toward the tent of their prisonner, Gnarl following him. It was time to go hunting.

A few minutes later, Gnarl was walking in the caves, stopping every so often to shout instructions to the other minions, which were working a fast as they could. "Mouldy! Belch! Start digging there! Flange! Maul! Worm! This wall needs reinforcing! Go! Frack! Moloch! Build a support column here!..." Giblet took some minions with him to help dig out the Forge, while Mortis was directing a couple of them, his magic letting him sense the presence of a nearby branch of the Styx river. After shouting yet another order, Gnarl turned around as the girl and the quartet of minions making up her escort entered the cave. Gnarl barely cast them a glance as they went back to the surface, after what two of the minions returned underground, which he promptly sent to work. If she was back, then the Overlord must already be in the forest. Walking with haste, he entered the first of the mostly formed room. Connected to the Barracks and with both the Brown Hive and the Tower Heart placed and fully functionnal, the new Spawning Pit only needed to be enlarged a little and the three other Hives to be complete. Stopping a few step in, he shouted one last order : "Grubby! Ah, there you are. The Overlord will need Minion and Tower Gates. Go dig them to him!" Now, time to see how the Overlord is doing...

This was not going well. After all, a heavy suit of armor isn't the best getup to go hunting in the forest. Most animals fled when they heard him get close, in spite of his best efforts to be silent. A couple of deers evaded him when he heard Gnarl's voice coming from his helmet. "Testing, one two, one two... Can you hear me master? Hmmm, if I do that... Ha! I can see you now. I sent Grubby toward you Sire, he should arrive as soon as he find a place to dig a Gate to you." He crouched, spotting another deer nearby. Hidding himself behind the foiliage, he was assessing the distance between him and his prey. It was walking closer, unaware of his presence. Just a few more seconds before it would be to close to flee. His prey suddenly stifened and fled. A couple of second later, the Overlord heard what startled it : a horse. and it was getting closer. He got up, internally cursing the interloper, but also the fact that his hiding place, perfect to ambush the deer, left him clearly visible from the nearby road by which the hrose was coming toward him.

Sir Thomas had spent the last couple of weeks on the roads. As one of the Royal Knight, he had been given the mission to investigate the numerous disparitions that had happened some distance away, close to the edge of the kingdom. However, he was already treading carefully because of the unusually aggressive wolves lurking in the area. That was when the knight spotted a warrior near the road. He slowed down to meet him, while taking note of his appearence. He didn't recognise him, which isn't surprising. He wouldn't pretend to know every warriors in the kingdom, but something didn't seem right. The warrior is wearing a finely decorated dark armor, without any symbol or blason that he knows of. His stance is aggressive, causing the knight to be more cautious. His axe was earning him a raised eyebrow. But still, warriors, more often than not mercenaries, aren't always trained to wield more conventional weapons. Setting foot on the ground, he intended to walk the few steps remaining, but only got to the second one as the warrior tensed up to strike. Barely blocking the blow, he suddenly noticed traits that should have alarmed him far sooner, like the unnatural skin color or the glowing eyes. Pushing the axe back, he launched a strike of his own. The Overlord tried to dodge, throwing his shoulder back, but he reacted too late. Red droplets were now sliding on the edge of the knight's blade. But Sir Thomas was already striking again, not wasting a single second. Blocking with his armored forearm, the Overlord swung his axe, striking him in the chest with a loud clang. The knight's eyes widened. Taking a small jump back, he shot a glance at the dent in his armor, still feeling pain from the impact. His opponent was stronger than he looked. Sidestepping a blow that would have hit his pauldron, he unleashed a flurry of strikes. The Overlord could only block a few of them while the rest found their way to unarmored flesh. The Overlord tried to dodge them, but his efforts were tiring him. The outcome became evident during the next minutes : unlike the Overlord, who barely had a few weeks of training, Sir Thomas had been trained during years specifically to fight against armored oponents. The Overlord tried to strike each time he could find an opportunity, but he only made a handful of blow connect, each one leaving a dent in the iron armor. Enduring the pain, Sir Thomas could see the fight going toward it's conclusion. Soon, the Overlord fell on his knee, panting, bruised and bleeding from numerous wounds. He glared at his oponent. If looks could kill, the knight would be dead by now... Sir Thomas felt a chill run down his spine, not only from the cold of the air, but also because of his oponent's sudden glee. Not a second later, fifteen minions, who jumped from the freshly digged Minion Gate behind him, swarmed him. Heavily outnumbered, he threw a hasty retreat, jumping on his horse before riding away. The overlord expression darkened again. Gathering some strength, he stood up, assessing his injuries. Thanks to his clumsy attempt at dodging, the many slashes weren't deep enough to be dangerous. His wounds slowly healing and his minions following him, he went back to hunt.

It was near noon when the Overlord returned in his camp, his minions carrying enough meat and fruits to last them a few days. While the minions aren't capable to sneak up on preys, they are fast enough to intercept them before most could pick up enough speed to get away, and setting up Guard Markers worked wonders to ambush the rest, which allowed them to take down a few deers, some hares, and even a boar, though that last one didn't go down wihout giving the minions some rapidly-healed injuries, the worst of it being a broken arm. The sole remaining injuries, a few dozen scratches on the Overlord, were healed by the Tower Gate before he crossed it. He was back in his tent a few minutes later, pondering about his next course of action while he ate. Food wouldn't be a concern for a few of days at the very least. He now posses far more minions than he can directly command, but still not enough to get the construction to a satisfying speed. Furthermore, they explored a good chunk of forest ground while they were hunting, and he now had some Tower Gates scattered all around those parts, which could be useful to gather more food and lifeforce. The Overlord's thoughts then went back to his fight with the knight, his expression darkening. It was his first fight against an actual opponent, and he had been hopelessly outmatched. While the ill-fitting, uncomfortable armor and the heavy battleaxe were partially responsible for this defeat, the Overlord wasn't delusional : he simply wasn't strong and skilled enough. Yet. He shifted his position, pulling his tail out of his armor. He couldn't leave it out without having some piece of armor stabbing it whenever he moved and he couldn't hide it inside without twisting it around. This made finding the red minions more of a priority with each passing moment.

Underground, Gnarl started shouting instructions again. The construction had been mostly paused while the overlord needed his minions, but it was now starting again, faster than before thanks to the additionnal minions. The Foundations and the Barracks, wich would ultimately fill out most of the underground, were slowly spreading while the Forge was taking form, Mortis was still leading a digging group, and they were now closing off the tunnels that connected them to the rest of the caves, cutting off access to the Tower. Once that will be done, the only ways to enter the tower would be by coming to it's base, which will be quite easy to spot, or by a Tower Gate. And only the Overlord himself and his minions could open those. With all this digging, they were also gathering a good amount of rock that would soon be used to start the construction of the above ground parts of the Tower.


End file.
